HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US
Romans 8:26 - Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The Holy Spirit is not inside you to point out your faults or nag at you when you do wrong. God’s Word tells us that He is inside us to help us in our weaknesses. In areas where we are without strength, He is there to help us. When we don’t know what to pray, “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.
Now, don’t read the verse and say, “Well, I don’t know what I should pray for, and since the Holy Spirit makes intercession for me, I will leave the praying to Him.”
If the Holy Spirit, without our participation, makes intercession for us, then every Christian would be living victorious lives automatically! But we know that there are many Christians who don’t seem to be walking in the fullness of God’s blessings. So obviously, Romans 8:26 is not saying that. What is it saying then?
In the first part of the verse, the word “helps” is sunantilambanomai in the original Greek text. It means “to take hold together against”. Now, “together” means that our participation is required. In other words, the Holy Spirit sunantilambanomai or takes hold together with us against the problem.
So if you just sit back and don’t take hold of the problem, the Holy Spirit has nothing to “take hold of” with you. If you don’t pray, He has nothing to pray. If you keep quiet, then even if He wants to pray through you, He can’t. But when you release your prayer in tongues, you are actually allowing Him to pray through you. And He will take hold together with you against the problem, and pray the perfect prayer through you because “He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”. (Romans 8:27)
And you can be confident that when you ask anything according to the will of God, He hears you. And if you know that He hears you, whatever you ask, you know that you have the petitions that you have asked of Him! (1 John 5:14–15)
Thought For The Day
When you pray in the Holy Spirit, He takes hold together with you against your problem.
ALL ABROAD
The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish. —2 Peter 3:9
One day when I dropped my husband off at our local train station, I watched as the conductor scanned the area for stragglers. A woman with wet hair bounded from the parking lot and up into the train. Then, a man in a dark suit strode to the platform and climbed aboard. The conductor waited patiently while several more late-comers sprinted to the tracks and boarded at the last moment.
Just as the conductor was patient with people boarding the train, God patiently waits for people to come to know Him. However, someday Jesus will return and “the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10). When this happens, or when our physical bodies die, it will be too late to establish a relationship with God.
“The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us,” Peter says, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v.9). If you have delayed deciding to follow Christ, there is good news—you can still commit yourself to Him. “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9 niv). He is calling. Will you run in His direction?
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me; See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me.
Now is the time to choose the Lord.
SELF SEEKING NOT GOD SEEKING
John 6:26, "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled."
Jesus knew the hearts of all men and therefore, He did not commit Himself to this crowd. Just the day before, these same people tried to take Him by force and make Him their king, but He withdrew and spent the night in prayer.
This crowd looked like they were seeking Jesus, but they were actually trying to use Jesus to seek their own end. It is true that there are many personal benefits to be reaped through serving the Lord, but the benefits are never to become our object. In all things, Christ must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18).
Jesus exposed the true intentions of the people's hearts by preaching a strong message of commitment. Those who were self-centered were offended and left while those who were willing to lay down their lives to experience God's abundant life remained. Commitment to God Himself (not what He can produce) is what always separates the true worshippers of God from the false.
As Jesus began to explain in these verses that He was the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6) and that they would have to come through Him, the people grew angry. It always angers the flesh to think that all our righteous acts can't save us, but Jesus made it clear that our only part in salvation is to believe. Believe what? Believe on Jesus and His sacrifice - not ours. Salvation is a gift and cannot be purchased (Rom. 10:2-3).
Many times, we get so intent on seeking God in one area that we forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to us from God through His Son. God loves us so much!
RECEIVE THE PROVISION OF FORGIVENESS DAILY
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 1 JOHN 2:12
Many people think that forgiveness is a basic teaching, that it is something you learn when you are a new believer and then you progress to more “complex” truths in God’s Word.
My friend, I submit to you that there is nothing basic about having a deep and abiding revelation of forgiveness. In fact, I believe that if you want to live the Christ-life and walk in the fullness of His divine provision, you need to meditate on His forgiveness daily. Personally, that is what I endeavor to do every single day when I partake of the Holy Communion in the privacy of my study.
I take the bread in my hand and thank Jesus for His provision of health, healing and wholeness for me. Then, I hold up the cup and thank my Savior for the provision of His blood that washes away all my sins and makes me righteous! Beloved, look to the cross and see how He has made possible every provision you need!
WHAT'S STOPPING YOU? FEAR OF SUCCESS! (2)
...Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. - Psalm 35:27 NKJV
Fear of success is characterised by these six behaviours; see if you have any of them:
(1) Procrastinating.
(2) Underperforming.
(3) Focusing on those who reject you rather than those who accept you.
(4) Allowing yourself to be side-tracked by so many insignificant things that you never get focused on the main thing.
(5) Talking about what you plan to do 'someday'.
(6) Feeling others are worthy of success but not you.
Question: Are you serving the Lord? Then you qualify for success! '...Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.' Yes, God will help you when you are in need. But He also wants you to succeed so that you can begin to meet the needs of others. God told Abraham two things. First, He promised to bless him greatly. Second, He promised to make him a great blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). And it happened! Solomon writes, '...money answers everything.' (Ecclesiastes 10:19 NKJV) What did he mean? Money builds schools, churches and hospitals. It eradicates poverty and illiteracy. It finances research that cures life-threatening illnesses. But some of us are so focused on Heaven's streets of gold that we no longer see earth's streets filled with suffering and unmet needs. Understand this: God will reward you based on your service to others. '...the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to Me."' (Matthew 25:40 NKJV) That should be your greatest motivation for wanting to succeed.
JESUS’ BLOOD STOPS EVIL IN ITS TRACKS
Leviticus 1:11 - He shall kill it [the burnt sacrifice] on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
The north of Israel has always been a source of evil for the nation. It was from Israel’s north that destruction poured forth. (Jeremiah 1:14–15) Israel’s enemies always came from the north. (Jeremiah 6:1, 22–23) Even today, the north of Israel is enemy-occupied land. The north is thus a picture of evil in the Bible.
Interestingly, the animal for the burnt sacrifice was killed “on the north side of the altar”. The burnt sacrifice speaks of Jesus who gave Himself as “an offering and a sacrifice to God” for us. (Ephesians 5:2) Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the Garden Tomb, where His empty tomb is, are located to the north of Jerusalem. In other words, Jesus died in the north, from where evil comes against His people.
Romans 8:26 - Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The Holy Spirit is not inside you to point out your faults or nag at you when you do wrong. God’s Word tells us that He is inside us to help us in our weaknesses. In areas where we are without strength, He is there to help us. When we don’t know what to pray, “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.
Now, don’t read the verse and say, “Well, I don’t know what I should pray for, and since the Holy Spirit makes intercession for me, I will leave the praying to Him.”
If the Holy Spirit, without our participation, makes intercession for us, then every Christian would be living victorious lives automatically! But we know that there are many Christians who don’t seem to be walking in the fullness of God’s blessings. So obviously, Romans 8:26 is not saying that. What is it saying then?
In the first part of the verse, the word “helps” is sunantilambanomai in the original Greek text. It means “to take hold together against”. Now, “together” means that our participation is required. In other words, the Holy Spirit sunantilambanomai or takes hold together with us against the problem.
So if you just sit back and don’t take hold of the problem, the Holy Spirit has nothing to “take hold of” with you. If you don’t pray, He has nothing to pray. If you keep quiet, then even if He wants to pray through you, He can’t. But when you release your prayer in tongues, you are actually allowing Him to pray through you. And He will take hold together with you against the problem, and pray the perfect prayer through you because “He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”. (Romans 8:27)
And you can be confident that when you ask anything according to the will of God, He hears you. And if you know that He hears you, whatever you ask, you know that you have the petitions that you have asked of Him! (1 John 5:14–15)
Thought For The Day
When you pray in the Holy Spirit, He takes hold together with you against your problem.
ALL ABROAD
The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish. —2 Peter 3:9
One day when I dropped my husband off at our local train station, I watched as the conductor scanned the area for stragglers. A woman with wet hair bounded from the parking lot and up into the train. Then, a man in a dark suit strode to the platform and climbed aboard. The conductor waited patiently while several more late-comers sprinted to the tracks and boarded at the last moment.
Just as the conductor was patient with people boarding the train, God patiently waits for people to come to know Him. However, someday Jesus will return and “the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10). When this happens, or when our physical bodies die, it will be too late to establish a relationship with God.
“The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us,” Peter says, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v.9). If you have delayed deciding to follow Christ, there is good news—you can still commit yourself to Him. “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9 niv). He is calling. Will you run in His direction?
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me; See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me.
Now is the time to choose the Lord.
SELF SEEKING NOT GOD SEEKING
John 6:26, "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled."
Jesus knew the hearts of all men and therefore, He did not commit Himself to this crowd. Just the day before, these same people tried to take Him by force and make Him their king, but He withdrew and spent the night in prayer.
This crowd looked like they were seeking Jesus, but they were actually trying to use Jesus to seek their own end. It is true that there are many personal benefits to be reaped through serving the Lord, but the benefits are never to become our object. In all things, Christ must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18).
Jesus exposed the true intentions of the people's hearts by preaching a strong message of commitment. Those who were self-centered were offended and left while those who were willing to lay down their lives to experience God's abundant life remained. Commitment to God Himself (not what He can produce) is what always separates the true worshippers of God from the false.
As Jesus began to explain in these verses that He was the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6) and that they would have to come through Him, the people grew angry. It always angers the flesh to think that all our righteous acts can't save us, but Jesus made it clear that our only part in salvation is to believe. Believe what? Believe on Jesus and His sacrifice - not ours. Salvation is a gift and cannot be purchased (Rom. 10:2-3).
Many times, we get so intent on seeking God in one area that we forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to us from God through His Son. God loves us so much!
RECEIVE THE PROVISION OF FORGIVENESS DAILY
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 1 JOHN 2:12
Many people think that forgiveness is a basic teaching, that it is something you learn when you are a new believer and then you progress to more “complex” truths in God’s Word.
My friend, I submit to you that there is nothing basic about having a deep and abiding revelation of forgiveness. In fact, I believe that if you want to live the Christ-life and walk in the fullness of His divine provision, you need to meditate on His forgiveness daily. Personally, that is what I endeavor to do every single day when I partake of the Holy Communion in the privacy of my study.
I take the bread in my hand and thank Jesus for His provision of health, healing and wholeness for me. Then, I hold up the cup and thank my Savior for the provision of His blood that washes away all my sins and makes me righteous! Beloved, look to the cross and see how He has made possible every provision you need!
WHAT'S STOPPING YOU? FEAR OF SUCCESS! (2)
...Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. - Psalm 35:27 NKJV
Fear of success is characterised by these six behaviours; see if you have any of them:
(1) Procrastinating.
(2) Underperforming.
(3) Focusing on those who reject you rather than those who accept you.
(4) Allowing yourself to be side-tracked by so many insignificant things that you never get focused on the main thing.
(5) Talking about what you plan to do 'someday'.
(6) Feeling others are worthy of success but not you.
Question: Are you serving the Lord? Then you qualify for success! '...Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.' Yes, God will help you when you are in need. But He also wants you to succeed so that you can begin to meet the needs of others. God told Abraham two things. First, He promised to bless him greatly. Second, He promised to make him a great blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). And it happened! Solomon writes, '...money answers everything.' (Ecclesiastes 10:19 NKJV) What did he mean? Money builds schools, churches and hospitals. It eradicates poverty and illiteracy. It finances research that cures life-threatening illnesses. But some of us are so focused on Heaven's streets of gold that we no longer see earth's streets filled with suffering and unmet needs. Understand this: God will reward you based on your service to others. '...the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to Me."' (Matthew 25:40 NKJV) That should be your greatest motivation for wanting to succeed.
JESUS’ BLOOD STOPS EVIL IN ITS TRACKS
Leviticus 1:11 - He shall kill it [the burnt sacrifice] on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
The north of Israel has always been a source of evil for the nation. It was from Israel’s north that destruction poured forth. (Jeremiah 1:14–15) Israel’s enemies always came from the north. (Jeremiah 6:1, 22–23) Even today, the north of Israel is enemy-occupied land. The north is thus a picture of evil in the Bible.
Interestingly, the animal for the burnt sacrifice was killed “on the north side of the altar”. The burnt sacrifice speaks of Jesus who gave Himself as “an offering and a sacrifice to God” for us. (Ephesians 5:2) Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the Garden Tomb, where His empty tomb is, are located to the north of Jerusalem. In other words, Jesus died in the north, from where evil comes against His people.
This means that Jesus’ death stops evil in our lives when we, who are priests of the Most High God (Revelation 1:6), speak His blood over our lives, just like how Aaron’s sons sprinkled the blood of the burnt offering all around on the altar.
This was the case for a church member who was serving in the army. He testified about how God preserved His life when a thunderstorm struck while he was carrying out sentry duty in a tower in his army camp. The rain kept him stranded in the tower which had a metal-framed window.
Suddenly, a bright purplish flash lit up right next to him, stunning him completely and almost throwing him off balance. A bolt of lightning had struck the lightning rod on the roof and the electricity was conducted through the metal-framed window causing the purple flash. But the blood of Jesus on him protected him from harm!
Praise Jesus, whose blood stops evil in its tracks! It does not matter what the devil sends your way. As long as you are covered with the blood of Jesus, no evil can harm you!
Thought For The Day
Jesus’ death stops evil in our lives when we speak His blood over our lives.
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. —James 5:16 niv
“The squeaky wheel gets the oil” is a popular proverb. As a child I rode my bicycle for long distances between home and school, and the squeaky sounds of the wheels drew my attention to the need to lubricate them.
In Luke 18, the widow’s persistent request to the judge for justice against her adversary made her sound like a “squeaky wheel” until she got the result she needed. Luke explains that Jesus told this story to teach us the need to pray continually and not to give up, even if it appears that the answer to our prayer is delayed (vv.1-5).
God is certainly not an unjust judge who must be harassed before He responds to us. He is our loving Father who cares about us and hears us when we cry to Him. Regular, persistent prayer draws us closer to Him. It may feel like we are a squeaky wheel, but the Lord welcomes our prayer and encourages us to approach Him with our cries. He hears us and will come to our aid in ways that we may not expect.
As Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:5-8, constant prayer does not require long periods of “vain repetitions.” Rather, as we bring our needs before God “day and night” (Luke 18:7) and walk with the One who already knows our needs, we learn to trust God and wait patiently for His response.
Don’t give up—God hears you when you pray!
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